14th March
Parked up in the caravan park in Geelong, we decided this would be an ideal base to explore Melbourne for a day. So we headed to South Geelong station where a very helpful station guard helped us buy MyKi cards for unlimited travel for two days. At a total cost of just over $50 for both of us for unlimited travel for two days, we though this was a bargain, not least as the train in from South Geelong to Central Melbourne takes just over an hour. I was just about to ask the guard about the traditional signal levers behind him and whether they were left for posterity when he broke off our conversation to go and pull a couple of them to change the points. That answered that question! These levers are apparently called a ‘lever frame’ and the world’s largest lever frame was in the Spencer Street No.1 signal box in Melbourne. This one apparently had 191 levers – a test for anyone’s memory, but it was decommissioned in 2008. It turns out they still use them in South Geelong.
Once in town we got a very helpful person at the information office who gave us a guide to public transport around Melbourne. Within the central area, all tram rides are free and you only needed to use the MyKi card if going outside the central zone. We decided to start testing this and promptly had to get off two stops later when we realised that we had got on a north-south tram instead of an east-west one. A very helpful local saw the look of bewilderment on our faces and helped out, suggesting we just walked along to the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) and this proved a lovely walk along the river to Federation Square.
The gallery was fascinating. We went into the part that housed Australian Art and the collection was varied and at times quite eclectic, but definitely gave quite an insight into First Nations art and how that has evolved and changed. The collection was extensive and we took probably around two and a half hours looking around. Even that wasn’t a thorough look at everything, but we felt that we at least got a good feel for it.
From there we walked past Flinders Street Station – an iconic building. It was opened in 1854 and is the oldest in Australia. It certainly stands out, but is nevertheless complementary with the more modern structures around it.
Heading north from there took us through Hosier Lane – a magnet for tour groups as it is one huge art canvas for graffiti artists. It is spectacular, though avoiding getting into everyone else’s Instagram feeds was a challenge. From there we went to the cathedral for a quick look round and then walked up Swanston Street to the State Library. As we sat down to look at the map to find the way to the market, we were accosted by a security guard. We explained what we were doing and he advised us not to bother for two reasons – the first was that the market was about to close, but the second more obvious one was a large demonstration in support of Palestine! So, instead we walked over to the Parliament and slap bang into an Extinction Rebellion protest. Today was definitely protest-day. We then headed past the Old Treasury building and into the Treasury Gardens.
Time was marching on, so we called it a day at that and caught a (free) tram back across to Southern Cross Station and back out to South Geelong and our caravan site. The site was a little noisier this evening as it is apparently the last Head of the River competition this weekend and a mass of boats were on the river – mostly a multiple of four people in them (fours or eights).
March 15th
Today is our last day with the campervan – quite sad really as we have become quite fond of it in some ways. While a bit more space in it would have been nice, the trade-off is that it was easy to drive and convenient to park anywhere. It may have done over 300,000km, but it drove nicely and we have added a couple of thousand more. We had to return it to Ringwood – a suburb about an hour to the east of Melbourne, so we headed off along the M1 following carefully instructions from Google Maps as it occasionally got a little complicated. However, a couple of hours later we had handed it back ….. From there we then had to get on a train for an hour heading back into Melbourne from the opposite direction. The train was meant to go around the city loop and into Southern Cross, but a technical problem meant that it went straight into Flinders Street, so we had to hump our bags onto some very busy free trams to get across town to Southern Cross. There we had to negotiate the poor software of the left-luggage lockers to get our luggage tucked away for the rest of the day, but that gave us the freedom to explore Melbourne further.
The immediate priority was to head to the market for lunch and after a short tram ride (free!) we got there and found a very nice Tibetan food truck where we tried Momos. These are steamed filled dumplings and as well as featuring in Tibetan cuisine, they are also apparently common in Nepali, Bhutani and Indian cuisine. They seemed to us to bear quite a resemblance as well to Polish pierogi.
After a quick browse round the market, another (not quite free) tram ride took us down to the Botanic Gardens. We wandered around, though it would have been nice to have had a little more time there as they were quite extensive. However, with the mercury rising significantly this afternoon, some relief from the heat was a relief as we made our way back to the station.
At the station a lack of information proved frustrating as train after train to Geelong failed to materialise. Eventually we switched platforms completely and found one that after just 15 minutes delay, eventually set off, something of a relief as we had started considering other options like taxis if necessary. We finally made it to North Shore station (just north of Geelong) at around 7.30pm and from there set off to walk to the Spirity of Tasmania ferry terminal. Google Maps reckoned that it was just 21 minutes walk, but it turned out that, contrary to modern perceptions, they don’t know everything. Ferry terminals are designed for cars and that meant around half to three-quarters of a mile of extra walking as we had to follow the road round into the terminal to check-in. We got there eventually and with a sense of relief got onto the ferry around 20 minutes later ….. Next stop Tasmania …..
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